Kitchen update: Couple adds personality and function to kitchen

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2013 edition of Lenawee magazine.

When Bob and Fern Stepp moved from Livonia to Adrian to be closer to their daughter, they developed a nagging need to make their new condo a "home."

At the house, located lakeside in Richlyn Manor (off Tipton Highway), the couple renovated their living spaces to develop a classic cottage, English country look. The home was breathtaking, with its panoramic views and new hickory wood floor: The only problem was an aging kitchen with no personality and little functionality.

VanSickle met with the couple several times to get ideas of what they were looking for. Well-traveled, Fern desired a way to showcase an assortment of blue-and-white patterned china dishes she had collected from her various trips across the globe. She also wanted to highlight a blue-and-white canister set given to her by her mother.

"The kitchen wasn't terribly old, but it was dated and not functional for Bob and Fern," VanSickle said. "The refrigerator was in an awkward place, there was a desk that was never utilized, and the whitewashed cabinets were dated."

"It wasn't a situation where the kitchen was in bad shape, but we wanted to make it our own," Bob said.

VanSickle's first step was to move the refrigerator across the room to open up space near a window divider looking into the living room (this increased visibility of the lake behind the house as well). The useless desk was also removed, creating opportunities for more cabinet and countertop space.

A three-door glass display cabinet with a backing of cherry bead board replaced the refrigerator space, providing a place to display some of Fern's china dishes. Set alone, the cabinet features a light fixture underneath. While the cabinet is the only glass cabinet in the kitchen, all are Kraftmaid maple painted in a biscotti finish.

A new Whirlpool French-door refrigerator sits nestled in floor-to-ceiling cabinets, providing an enormous amount of new storage space. Similarly, a new Whirlpool built-in oven is surrounded by cabinets and drawers large enough to hold pots and pans.

"The drawers are incredibly convenient, and we incorporated them throughout the kitchen," VanSickle said. "It's so much easier to maneuver around drawers than to have to lean over, digging into cabinets all the time — we even put pull-out trays in the regular swing-door cabinets. We wanted everything to be extremely functional."

Inset near the oven is an open cabinet, featuring cubbies to store favorite wines and another area to display Fern's dishes — these from places like Helsinki, Alaska and Finland. This cabinet also features lighting underneath, for better visibility in food preparation and to highlight even more dishes.

"We decided to stagger the heights of the wall cabinets so that it breaks up the normal boring lines you would see with a traditional kitchen," VanSickle said.

A corner wall cabinet, stacked with crown molding to the ceiling, creates an impression of a tower, with dropped cabinets to either side, providing decorative storage or display space if needed.

"We prefer it to stay empty; we like the effect," Fern said. Additional under-cabinet lighting near the stove and in corners also creates a pleasant effect — providing extra light and giving the room as warmer, softer glow. One corner features the canister set prized by Fern, and the lighting makes the canisters glow like artwork.

Having a large amount of light-colored cabinets and blue-and-white dishes created a need to balance the brights: VanSickle incorporated a Cambria quartz countertop throughout that pulled in browns from the hickory floor. The brown countertop, called Bradford, has small amounts of blue and white throughout.

"I went with the darker countertop because I didn't want everything to be overwhelmingly blue — if you wanted to change the paint color down the road, it wouldn't be a huge problem."

The counters complement an island and credenza made of cherry — which reflects the cherry bead board set behind the display cabinets.

The island also features drawers rather than cabinets, making storage easily accessible.

Fern and Bob said they are extremely happy with the tile backdrop: Daltile in elemental tan in a subway pattern features glass tiles in twilight blue with a decorative pattern (designed by VanSickle) behind the stove.

"It's a nice darker blue that really pulls out a cottage look," VanSickle said. "It's a nice blue — not one that will become easily dated."

As with any remodel, the details highlight little points of interest that make up the bigger picture: legs on the sink cabinets and island provide an upscale look and visual interest; the sporadic use of crown molding provides a personalized look and breaks in lines; store-bought drop lighting and bronze hardware gives continuity and a cottage feel throughout.

"I feel like this kitchen has a lot of personality now," Fern said.

"Even though this was a total tear-out, there were no structural changes made to the kitchen," VanSickle said. "It took about two months to complete and our only challenge was initially trying to match the kitchen floor to the hickory floor in the living room."

"We learned a lot about the local restaurants in the area during that time," Bob said, reminiscing to a former kitchen remodel, where they set up a microwave in the basement to serve as a temporary kitchen. "We are happy to be back eating at home."

"The kitchen in our old home was due for an update," Fern said. "So either way we would have been redoing a kitchen. We are very happy with what Lisa has done here."

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